Mexico and Vietnam Mark the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations

Which Coincides with the 135th Anniversary of the Birth of Vietnam’s National Hero Ho Chi Minh

by Pedro Gellert

Monument to Ho Chi Minh, downtown Mexico City

Under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Vietnam, currently the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people successfully launched the 1975 Spring General Offensive. This culminated in the historic victory of April 30, 1975, the high point of which was the complete liberation of the South and national reunification—marking a turning point in the country’s history.

It was also a victory for the progressive forces of the entire world, as it demonstrated that it was indeed possible to defeat the most powerful army on the planet and begin building a new homeland—free, sovereign, and on the path to socialism.

A few weeks later after the great victory, on May 19, 1975, Mexico became the first country in Latin America and one of the first in the world to establish diplomatic relations with a unified Vietnam.

The relationship between the two countries is special and memorable because May 19 is also the birthday of Ho Chi Minh, the first president of Vietnam and a hero of the national liberation struggle. Ho Chi Minh, also known as Uncle Ho, was born on May 19, 1890. He was a prominent Vietnamese revolutionary, founder of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the first prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

In Mexico in particular, and in Latin America in general, respect, admiration, and tributes to Ho Chi Minh have been common across all sectors of society. In 1969, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas wrote in his notes:

“Ho Chi Minh and Gandhi—two fighters, examples of civic virtues in universal history, who served their homelands with stoic integrity, without personal ambition, vanity, or interest, with the sole aim of liberating their peoples from foreign oppression.”

To date, Mexico in home to three monuments dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, in Mexico City, Acapulco, and Guadalajara.

Vietnam continues to be a beacon for revolutionaries around the world. The country’s impressive achievements in recent years—including posting 7.1% economic growth last year and significant progress in all areas of social and material well-being for the population, demonstrate the validity of a national-social project based on the ideals of human solidarity and collective wellbeing. The Vietnamese experience, particularly its economic reform known as Doi Moi (renovation and innovation), and our own transformation in Mexico, known as the Fourth Transformation and Mexican humanism, are two paths toward the same goal—each, of course, grounded in its own national history and political culture.

At the official level, bilateral relations between Mexico and Vietnam have been built and developed on the basis of political trust, friendship, sustainable and multifaceted cooperation, and mutual respect. In recent years, both nations have achieved impressive progress in all areas, including diplomacy, economy, trade, culture, education, security, defense, and tourism. Thanks to the favorable conditions of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), trade remains the most important feature of the bilateral relationship. In 2024, bilateral trade volume reached 15 billion dollars, a 27.5% increase compared to 2023.

In the near future, bilateral relations still have ample room for fostering deeper cooperation. Beyond promoting trade ties, both countries also need to expand into promising areas such as high-tech agriculture, high value-added industries, innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, sustainable development, joint scientific research on climate change, technology transfers, and the training of high-quality human resources to support the long-term development of both nations.

I would like to conclude this brief reflection, written to mark the two previously mentioned commemorative dates, with a Vietnamese song, The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh, this version sung in English by Ewan Maccoll:

Far away across the ocean
Far beyond the sea’s eastern rim
Lives a man who is father of the Indochinese people
And his name, it is Ho Chi Minh